NOVEMBER 28,2015/AUGUST 5, 2016IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER
Harry Potter
By Susan Brinkmann, from the Women of Grace blog, 2008-2015
Vatican Newspaper Praises New Potter Film
By Susan Brinkmann, July 15, 2009
A surprisingly positive review of the latest Harry Potter film in L’Osservatore Romano, the Vatican’s newspaper, is causing yet another round of controversy for the paper’s embattled new editor.
In his review in Monday’s Italian edition of the paper, Gaetano Vallini praisedthe latest Harry Potter film, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, calling it the “most successful of the series” thus far.
Vallini said the story promoted “friendship, altruism, loyalty and self-giving” and equated the magic portrayed in the film as the same as the kind found in fairy tales.
He claimed the new film made clear “the line of demarcation between one who does good and one who does evil, and it is not difficult for the reader or the viewer to identify with the first. . . This is particularly true in the latest film. They know that doing good is the right thing to do. And they also understand that sometimes this involves hard work and sacrifice.”
To his credit, Vallini did criticize the new film’s constant references to “new age spirituality.” He also said author J.K. Rowling’s work “lacks a reference to the transcendent, to a providential design in which men live their personal stories and the story takes shape. Thus it is true that, in the classic mechanism of fables, the protagonist finds himself amidst experiences in which magic is almost always an instrument in the hands of evil.”
However, Vallini’s review is a sharp contradiction from earlier statements in the paper, such as the January, 2008 article by Edoardo Rialti calling Harry Potter the wrong kind of hero who “transmits a vision of the world and the human being full of deep mistakes and dangerous seductions…”
Rialti concluded his article with a condemnation of the use of magic in the Potter series, and quoted Cardinal Ratzinger who once praised a German journalist for speaking out about the dangers of Harry Potter. “It is good that you enlighten people about Harry Potter,” Cardinal Ratzinger told Gabriele Kuby, “because those are subtle seductions, which act unnoticed and by this deeply distort Christianity in the soul, before it can grow properly’.”
The Vatican’s chief exorcist, Fr. Gabriele Amorth, also spoke out about Potter in 2006, condemning the series as downright evil.“Behind Harry Potter hides the signature of the king of the darkness, the devil,” Fr. Amorth said.
However, Vallini’s startling reviewis just the latest in a series of gaffs by the new editor of L’Osservatore Romano, Giovanni Maria Vian, who many say is trying to make the paper more relevant.It has provided glowing coverage of the most pro-abortion president in the history of the U.S. and recently heaped praise on the pop star Michael Jackson whose music and controversial lifestyle is not known for its embrace of traditional moral values.
According to LifeSiteNews.com, American canonist and canon law professor Edward N. Peters, commenting on the Jackson coverage, wrote that such anomalies as these in the paper’s recent articles and editorials are a result of L’Osservatore Romano having “decided to become relevant. God help us.”
“If the Vatican wants a newspaper to provide a Catholic perspective on the world, fine. Item Number One on the to-do list, though, should be to find Catholics who can write and edit such a paper coherently. Anyone can lurch from gaff to gaff.”
Pres. Bush Refusedto Honor Author of Harry Potter
By Susan Brinkmann, October 29, 2009
According to the memoir of a speechwriter for former President George W. Bush, the administration refused to grant Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling a presidential medal of freedom because her books “encouraged witchcraft.”
According to a report in the Guardian, Matt Latimer’snewbook, Speech-Less: Tales of a White House, reveals how political the award became during the Bush Administration.
In his book, Latimer, criticized how the “narrow thinking” of “people in the White House” led them to “actually object to giving the author J.K. Rowling a presidential medal because the Harry Potter books encouraged witchcraft.”
Latimer also claims that Sen. Edward Kennedy was denied the award because he was “a liberal.”
The Medal of Freedom is America’s highest civilian award and is given to “individuals who make an especially meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of the United States, world peace, cultural or other significant public or private endeavours.”
Pres. Bush awarded the medal to individuals such as Tony Blair, Muhammad Ali, Alan Greenspan, Nelson Mandela, Doris Day and Charlton Heston.
The first 16 recipients of Barack Obama’s presidential medal, handed out in August, included Stephen Hawking, Senator Ted Kennedy and the controversial gay activist, Harry Milk.
Harry Potter
By Susan Brinkmann, March 26, 2010
AS writes: “I would appreciate an article from you on your blog about Harry Potter, to share with people.”
I have been writing about the New Age for almost a decade now, and no topic generates as much hate mail as that of Harry Potter. I have received the most ungodly letters from teachers and parents who can’t stand the idea of anyone saying Potter is bad. "But at least my kid is reading!" is a common defense, to which I ask, "When they start reading porn, will that be good too?"
At any rate, I have many solid reasons for being against the proliferation of Harry Potter and Potter-like books that promote sorcery to children. Here are the top three:
#1 – The Books Teach Authentic Sorcery to Children
The spells and rituals in the Harry Potter books aren’t the figment of author J.K. Rowling’s imagination. They’re real. For instance, in the first book alone, former occult practitioner and expert Toni Collins lists the "Sorting Ceremony" described on pages 117-122, the Body-Bind spell on page 273 and brews listed in Professor Snape’s potions class on pages 136-139, as being authentic. She said only someone who has engaged in these practices would know they weren’t fantasy, and only someone who had done meticulous research into Wiccan practices could have written them. (See
Collins is far from alone. Other former occult practitioner, such as Steve Wood, host of St. Joseph’s Covenant Keepers radio show, also confirmed that he used many of the rituals that are casually described in Potter books.
Perhaps the most telling confirmation that the books teach true sorcery comes from exorcists themselves, all of whom unequivocally condemn the books. Rome’s famous exorcist, Fr. Gabriele Amorth, told the Italian ANSA news agency in December, 2001 that "behind Harry Potter hides the signature of the King of darkness, the devil."
He and other exorcists condemned Rowling’s misguided portrayal of magic as being either "white or black" – a distinction that does not exist in real life. Magic is "always a turn to the devil," he says, no matter what color you call it.
#2 – The Books Distort Good and Evil in the Minds of Children
This is another major reason why Potter books should be avoided.
In his book, A Landscape with Dragons: The Battle for Your Child’s Mind,best-selling author Michael D. Brown protests the distorted way in which Rowling’s book portray the occult as "liberating, noble, exciting, and not what your parents and Christians in general say about it. Coupled with this message is the gross characterization of traditional families and anyone else who objects to the occult as abusive hypocrites . . .The whiff of morality makes them that much more deceptive. In this way, the moral order of the universe is deformed in a child’s mind far more effectively than by blatantly evil books."
For instance, the books teach children that they can resort to an evil means if it brings about a good end. One can use magic to get a girl to like them, or to punish a foe. But what the books don’t tell the child is that the forces that are harnessed with magic spells are very real, very demonic, and use of them always ends badly for the practitioner. (My booklet on Magick gets into these grisly details) The only people who would promote the teaching of sorcery to children are those who are either occultists themselves or who have no practical knowledge of the occult.
Michael O’Brien is particularly disturbed by the fact that otherwise sensible people promote these books full of dangerous distortions and occult practices specifically forbidden by God to innocent children. The fact that this is happening even in Catholic households and schools is a sign of "a grave loss of discernment," he says.
#3 – The Books Inspire Children with A Fascination for the Occult
Anyone who thinks Potter books don’t inspire an unhealthy fascination in the occult in children needs a reality check. The advent of the Harry Potter series unleashed an avalanche of occult fiction that are now the top selling categories in the children and teen market.
For example, Hollywood’s occult themed movies aimed at young adults, such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, and Charmed, are all churning out paper-back series that have become the rage with young teens. Instead of reading Nancy Drew mysteries and the Babysitter’s Club, young girls are reading about Buffy’s near rape by her love-interest, Spike, or watching her die and then "resurrecting" herself by climbing out of a grave.
Then there’s the controversial Goosebumps series for grade school kids and the Fear Street books for adolescents that intertwine the teen world of cheerleading and sports with supernatural evil. T-Witches contain the escapades of twin daughters of two powerful witches and Midnight Magic touts the use of tarot cards.
All this – and I have yet to even mention the latest vampire-inspired occult thriller – Twilight!
Those people who boo-hooed talk of a Potter-inspired rush to sorcery among youth (they called us hysterical back in 2001) are in dire need of a "come to Jesus" moment (pun intended).
I might also add that Pope Benedict XVI is no fan of Potter or its ilk. His personal condemnation of the books was uncovered in a letter from then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger to Gabriele Kuby, author of Harry Potter – Good or Evil? Apparently, Kuby sent the Cardinal a copy of her book and he responded in a letter dated March 7, 2003, in which he thanked her for the "instructive" book. "It is good that you enlighten people about Harry Potter because those are subtle seductions, which act unnoticed and by this deeply distort Christianity in the soul, before it can grow properly," he wrote.
Ironically, the Cardinal also suggested in the letter that she send a copy of the book to the same Vatican prelate, Msgr. Peter Fleetwood, who said during a Vatican Radio program that Harry Potter books were okay. Msgr. Fleetwood’s comments were broadcast around the world as "Vatican Approves of Potter" even though the Vatican has never made an official statement on the books.
I could go on and on about Harry Potter, but this should suffice for now.
For a better understanding of the occult and how it manifests in our culture, our Learn to Discern: Is it Christian or New Age series contains several books on this subject, including Magick, Witchcraft/Wicca and Psychics/Channeling.
Potter fans blamed for decimating Indian owl population
By Susan Brinkmann, November 5, 2010
I posted this story on our Breaking News site today and want to share it with our blog friends because it proves that Harry Potter is far more thanjust "harmless fiction" and that children do indeed emulate this famous"wizard"at great cost to both themselves and our world.
India’s Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh is blaming fans of Harry Potter for the dwindling number of wild owls in that country.
According to the BBC, Ramesh says Harry Potter books and films feature a white owl named Hedwig, which has spawned a rash of requests for the birds from illegal bird traders.
"Following Harry Potter, there seems to be a strange fascination even among the urban middle classes for presenting their children with owls," Mr. Ramesh said.
The concerns were made public in advance of the release of a report on the status of India’s owl population by a leading conservation group, Traffic. It is expected to call for tougher protections for the birds.
The report’s author, Abrar Ahmed, said he decided to investigate the owl trade after being asked by a friend to procure a live white-coloured owl for her son’s Harry Potter-themed 10th birthday party.
"This was probably one of the strangest demands made to me as an ornithologist," he wrote.
His research found that growing number of owls, a highly endangered species in India, are now being trapped, traded or killed in black magic rituals. Many of these killings are done during the Hindu festival of Diwali ("festival of lights") which is being celebrated today.
The Traffic report also highlights the killing of owls in "black magic and sorcery driven by superstition, totems and taboos" and claims this to be one of the "prime drivers of the covert owl trade". The report claims that black magic practitioners use owls and their body parts for ceremonial pujas and rituals.
They are advising better law enforcement and increased awareness of the vital role owls play in the ecosystem, which especially benefits farmers because of the birds’ predation of rodents and other crop pests.
Children seeking to imitate their hero, Harry Potter, are only contributing to the problem of keeping owls alive and healthy in their native environment.
Potter publisher Bloomsbury has declined to comment on Mr. Ramesh’s assertions.
See to read more about the dangers of Harry Potter and other occult-fiction works.
Potter strikes again
By Susan Brinkmann, November 22, 2010
Here we go again.Another Harry Potter film – this one said to be the "darkest" of all the tales. What’s worse, this is only Part 1 of the movie rendition of the last book in the series. We’ll have to suffer through the release of Part 2in July, 2011.
For those parents who still insist that this kind of entertainment is harmless, consider the opinion of Fr. Thomas Euteneuer, famed exorcist and author of Exorcism and the Church.
In a recent interview with Deal Hudson of Inside Catholic, Fr. Euteneuer said that one of the reasons he wrote the book was to warn parents who allow their children to be desensitized to "the dark world" by books and films like the Harry Potter series and Twilightseries by Stephenie Meyer. He said possession is almost always the result of someone getting involved in some sort of occult practices, such as witchcraft, Wicca, tarot cards, and Ouija boards.
"Harry Potter and these Twilight vampires glamorize the power of evil," Father Euteneuer explained, "and this has led to many, many cases of possession among young people." It may begin with a child or teenager simply "playing around" with the occult, but that seemingly harmless act is "opening a window" to possession.
Father Euteneuer emphasized this point, "Demons do not discriminate between intentions – no matter how innocent – and children lose the clear distinction between good and evil."
This interview is definitely worth a read:
Johnnette found another exceptional article on the problem of occult fiction blockbusters such as Twilight and Harry Potter that was written by well-known Catholic author, Michael D. O’Brien and can be accessed on his website.
The following excerpt from the article deals specifically with the Twilight series:
"Physical beauty is the glue that holds the whole banal tale together. If one were to dim down the prettiness and subtract the horror from these four novels and their films, there would be little left. They would become no more than mind-numbing Harlequin Romances for very immature teenage girls. The sexual attraction and the appeal to romantic feelings, combined with the allure of mystery, all obscure the real horror of the tale, which is the degradation of the image and likeness of God in man, and the false proposal that consuming the lifeblood of another human being bestows life all around."
O’Brien goes on to quoteE. Michael Jones, who compares vampirism with Christianity:
"Both Christ and Dracula deal with blood and eternal life," Jones writes. "Vampirism is, as Renfield makes clear, the antithesis of Christianity. Whereas Christ shed his blood so that his followers could have eternal life, Dracula shed his followers’ blood so that he could have eternal life; Dracula is a reworking of Christianity according to the canons of Social Darwinism. The monster is simply the inversion of Christianity that was taking place throughout Europe as once again the Enlightenment was implemented through one of its pseudo-scientific ideologies. … In a satanic way typical of the reversal of Christian order that the vampire creates, man achieves immortality through immorality and by infecting others—that is, through lust. Christianity exalts love; vampirism—Darwin’s survival of the fittest pushed to its extreme—exalts the hunger of desire."